@story TERAH CURRY
@image MARK FRANTZ
Fort Smith native Mark Frantz is modest when talking about his craft - which he insists is a hobby - yet not all hobby photographers have captured iconic places like the covered Bridges of Madison County with such grace.
His work first caught my eye after I ordered coffee at Dewey’s Café inside the Fort Smith Public Library. “Wister Clover,” hung near the sugar and napkins, and was nothing shy of a visual Sabbath. Luminous and a little ethereal, this field of scarlet clover, warmed by the sun, hedged by twin oaks and a glimmering lake, held the glow of an Italian oil painting.
Mark remembers every detail of the day he took the photo. “There were four of us - photographer friends of mine- and we went exploring,” Mark said. “My buddy Mike wanted to go to Wister, Oklahoma, because he had seen this spot earlier in the week and knew we had to be there at a certain time. Mike said, ‘Let’s go by Wister. There’s a clover patch there that looks pretty cool at a certain time of the day.’ It was pretty funny. There were three of us guys on our knees, shoulder to shoulder, waiting to get the right shot. All three of us have kind of the same shot, but they’re different. We’re all in virtually a four-foot square area. “Wister Clover” was a combo of three shots blended together HDR - which means high dynamic range – which is basically blending several photos of the same shots together.”
Mark’s interest in photography developed when his parents bought him a camera when he graduated from high school. He took it with him to college, but he didn’t have a lot of money to buy film.
“I got back into photography during the late eighties, and then got out of it and became busy with life. About 2005, I had an opportunity to go to Alaska, and I wanted to get a bejtter camera. I got my first digital SLR, selling off a lot of my hunting equipment to buy camera equipment.
“I went three times to the Prince of Wales Island, which is in the Tongass National Forest. The first trip was nice with no rain for a week, but the subsequent times it rained every day with low visibility. I went there originally to hunt black bears, but found myself carrying my camera and tripod instead of a gun. I have since traded most of my guns in for photo equipment.”
Many of Mark’s photos are distinguished by the use of infrared, a wavelength of light invisible to the human eye, but when used in digital photography, produces photos with a slightly otherworldly effect.
“I like scenic, wildlife, and pretty much anything except people,” Mark said, and then laughed. “I don’t take portraits. I can barely get my nephew to sit still for a second. I may spend two hours walking around looking at a place – my head is always on a swivel.”
Mark’s job affords him opportunities to photograph scenic landscapes around the country. Many are “destination” photos as a result of his profession as a salesman. The company he works for is headquartered near Memphis, Tennessee, and Mark sells resins to the composite industry – which produces products ranging from boats to bowling balls.
“I’ve been to Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, and if I go to Vegas or something I always try to spend a day or two extra with the intent to take pictures. That’s my real job - that one that pays the bills – and it involves me driving 70,000 a year. I take a lot of pictures in this area, but the covered bridges are the Bridges of Madison County in Iowa.
“I’m trying to learn to look at smaller things and to focus on the picture within the picture. My buddy says I need to get in picture mode instead of sales mode.”
Although Mark jokingly calls himself a “jack of all trades, master of none,” he currently presides over the Fort Smith Photographer’s Alliance, which meets on the first, second and third Thursday of each month.
“We hold contests, have internal contests, train on new products, new techniques, or have group outings. We may meet at a new location and shoot. People like Tim Ernst [the renowned Arkansas nature photographer] may come in and do a slide show. A photographer may come in and talk about how to shoot a portrait. Basically we just do anything we can to try and promote photography.”
While “Wister Clover” is eye-catching, his “Wilson Rock Bridge” is a work of art in black and white.
“‘Wilson Rock’ was taken one day when I was out with my buddy Mike. We were going to Wilson Rock in Oklahoma, and this bridge was on the way. We both took several shots of this bridge and this particular one was my favorite out of the shots I took. Sadly, this bridge was replaced several years ago with a concrete structure.”
That’s part of the joy Mark finds in photography. He can take a memory and turn it into a permanent piece of art.
Those who follow Mark’s work are thankful he does. They’re also thankful his parents decided to buy him the camera that sparked his interest in photography and set the course for all the days that followed.
Mark’s photos are on display through February at in the Mercy gallery inside the hospital’s main entrance at 7301 Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith.
Prices for Mark’s framed photographs range from $110 for a 12 x 14, to around $300 for the panoramic shots.
You can contact him at 479.461.8003, or at maf7600@gmail.com
For more information on the photographic alliance, log on to PAFSAC.com.